this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2023
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One of the most aggravating things to me in this world has to be the absolutely rampant anti-intellectualism that dominates so many conversations and debates, and its influence just seems to be expanding. Do you think there will ever actually be a time when this ends? I'd hope so once people become more educated and cultural changes eventually happen, but as of now it honestly infuriates me like few things ever have.

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[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee -4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah you basically claimed that anti-intellectualism is based on stupidity. Do you have any evidence of that?

The answer is obviously no, or you’d be producing it

[–] pinkdrunkenelephants@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)
  1. Anti-intellectualism is stupidity. All stupidity is is just willful ignorance. That's what the word means colloquially and we're using the colloquial meaning of the term.

  2. Grow the fuck up and stop defending stupid people. You are literally harming our country by legitimizing them and anti-intellectualism as a whole. That kind of thinking has no place in any modern society and neither do you if you think that's the direction we should allow it to be dragged in.

[–] quinnly@lemmy.ml -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That kind of thinking has no place in any modern society and neither do you

Psssssst saying stuff like that doesn't make you sound very smart

[–] pinkdrunkenelephants@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I don't give a fuck how I sound. Personally attacking me doesn't work. All you anti-intellectualist dipshits have to bring to the table are dumb personal attacks, red herrings, and temper tantrums whenever you're told you need to know basic facts, and understand things you clearly don't, and the rest of us are sick of it.

Be a fucking adult for once in your lives.

[–] quinnly@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I don't give a fuck how I sound

Well you had me fooled, given that you seem to think what you're saying is so important

Be a fucking adult

I wanna dig into this, please elaborate on your adult ideal

[–] pinkdrunkenelephants@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh look at that, no substantive argument defending openly rejecting learning, just more viciousness and vitriol because that's all ignorant motherfuckers like you know how to do when confronted with your own flaws. Knock me over with a feather.

I'm angry and butthurt because you called me out on my vapidity and now I am attacking you for it

Die mad. You're doing wrong being willfully ignorant and you're doubly wrong for defending something so harmful and dangerous. You're not going to bully me into shutting up simply because you don't want to hear the truth.

You have to know basic shit and most importantly, want to learn to be a meaningful participant in a fucking democracy. We're trying to run a society here. We have no time for your ignorance. You've caused enough suffering and destruction as it is.

[–] quinnly@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Look at how upset you are, at something that's totally out of your control. So much anger, I could drown in it. Maybe try to focus on more positive emotions.

Die mad.

I wanna focus in on this statement. Do you say hurtful things like this because maybe deep down you're afraid that you'll die angry, angry at things that are completely out of your control? This is a very natural fear so don't be afraid to admit it.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

All you anti-intellectual dipshits have to bring to the table are dumb personal attacks …

Wow I didn’t even need to quote two sentences of yours to expose your hypocrisy. You managed to do it in the span of ten words.

But just to drive the point home, this was you a couple comments ago:

Grow the fuck up and stop defending stupid people. You are literally harming our country by legitimizing them and anti-intellectualism as a whole. That kind of thinking has no place in any modern society and neither do you

Like, you’re spewing vitriol. Do you really not see that?

[–] pinkdrunkenelephants@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wow I didn’t even need to quote two sentences of yours to expose your hypocrisy. You managed to do it in the span of ten words.

I'm not defending anyone.

You showed yours in four.

You showed yours the second you opened your mouth defending dumbasses in here while completely ignoring their own brand of vitriol, and offering up your own as a consequence.

You show yours when you couldn't be assed to look at my post history for five minutes like a decent concern troll. 🤦

You're literally doing it right now, looking for a cheap gotcha moment, and when you read this and find out it didn't work because I am openly an asshole, you're going to whine and complain, and I'm gonna sit here and shake my head right along with OP.

You are on the wrong side of history and you are actively helping to destroy not only the U.S. but the rest of the developed world with your garbage and you give not one single fuck as long as you can use stupid people -- and I emphasize stupid people -- to virtue signal.

Grow up.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There’s no hypocrisy indicated in the two sentences you quoted; indeed there’s no conflict between them.

Where there is a conflict is between shaming me for insulting people (Did I? Where?), in the same sentence that you insult me.

[–] pinkdrunkenelephants@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You're literally defending anti-intellectualist dumbshits throughout the thread. Most of your posts are vitriolic. You came in here with an attitude, and when others called you out on it, you assaulted them with the same tired old thought-terminating cliches and personal attacks every anti-intellectualist abuses others with. It's old, it's tiresome, it's destructive, and you really really need to go do something better with your time on this earth than enabling people to be stupid with no social consequences.

The mark of an intellectual! Making bold statements without evidence then suppressing any discussion of that lack of evidence.

Maybe instead of bemoaning how little effort others are putting into understanding things, you should forge ahead with your own work.

It just means you’re tossing your hands up at the complexity of understanding something. Not a very disciplined approach to understanding for the 1% Intellectual in the room.

You're doing it everywhere. And you don't realize what you're doing because you don't think about what you're saying, and you don't think about what you're saying because you don't care about the truth. Like all anti-intellectuals.

Well, the rest of us do, and we have a country to run and lives to live. You need to go touch grass. We'll simply move on without you.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee -4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Anti-intellectualism is stupidity

No. You have your definitions arranged sloppily. Stupidity is stupidity.

Grow the fuck up and stop defending stupid people.

I’m not defending anyone. Like at all. You being unable to see that is another indicator of how sloppy and undisciplined your mind is.

Colloquially, anti-intellectualism is the stance that intellectualism is bad. Intellectualism is not the same as intelligence. Intellectualism is a specific relationship with the mind and knowledge. Specifically it’s the belief that articulated argument and logic is the best way to approach knowledge. Anti-intellectualism is the stance that there are other ways far more valuable to develop knowledge.

For a bunch of self-proclaimed “intellectuals” you guys have no idea what you’re talking about.

Like being an intellectual and in favor of intellectualism is one thing. It’s another thing entirely to declare yourself an intellectual without actually being one.

In my experience, skilled intellectuals don’t call themselves that, and people who call themselves intellectuals are primarily interested in being seen as special.

Just to educate you a little on what the landscape is here, alternatives to intellectual consideration of reality include:

  • intuition
  • phenomenology
  • practice
  • empiricism
  • idiocy

You’ve latched onto one of those, because apparently you don’t read enough to have any awareness whatsoever of the context of this conversation. Which is ahem rather anti-intellectual of you.

I'm going to pedantically use the dictionary to prove being pedantic is unhelpful

Well, you got me there, Chief